Sudden Realization
by TheForgottenOne13
Summary: What if there was doubt cast in Kisuke's "treason"? What if the visoreds didn't cast blame on the Soul Society? What if Aizen's failed to get the Hogyoku from Rukia? What if Gin didn't die? How will this affect Aizen's plans? We will start off 100 years in the past in the Turn Back the Pendulum to see the butterfly effect of this scenario unfold throughout the Bleach series. AR.
1. The Betrayal

This is my first shot in fan-fiction, so here goes nothing. I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to give your thoughts! _Of course, I don't own any characters mentioned, or own Bleach._.

Without further ado, here is Sudden Realization:

Chapter 1

 **Chapter 1: The Betrayal**

 **Rukongai District**

"This is so stupid, Kensei," Mashiro whined as she trailed unenthusiastically behind the small group.

"Then, go home Mashiro," the ninth division captain said as he darted his eyes towards the uninterested short green haired lieutenant. "This is the head captain's orders! We have to investigate these disappearances in the Rukongai district so I don't have time to babysit you."

"Okay, okay..gosh you're so mean Kensei," Mashiro said as she began to pout even more. "I'm your lieutenant you big jerk, so I'm staying."

Kensei glared even more at his subordinate, but then took a deep breath before turning back and continuing forward. "Just take this seriously, okay?" he said softly with a hint of compassion in his voice. "We have to stay sharp, we don't know what to expect."

"Captain, over here!" two Shinigami seated officers shouted with concerned looks on their faces. They were crouched down holding black Shinigami robes as they looked back up at their captain in disbelief. "They….just vanished."

"Make a call into the Central 46!" the white haired captain shouted sternly. "We have our first Shinigami disappearances!" Kensei sat there quietly in thought. Outwardly, he gave off no reaction however inwardly, he was concerned. _'Sandals and robes with footprints all gathered in one location? What does this all mean? Surely this is connected to the Rukongai vanishings…in that case we better be on our toes.'_

"Sir, what should we do?" a slender man with a jagged hair held backwards and up.

"We stake out here, Kaname," Kensei replied as he looked up from being deep in thought. "We have to get to the bottom of this. Can I count on you?"

"Yes, Captain," Tōsen confidentially boasted as the 5th seated officer stepped away from Kensei. "I'll inform the others of setting up camp here," as he adjusted his goggles and pulled up his mask. ' _All is going to Lord Aizen's plans, just as he predicted. Although tonight will be difficult, the road to justice will always be on my mind. I'm sure the others are completely unaware of my intentions.'_

 **Later That Night**

With his Zanpakutō slouched on his shoulder, Kensei scanned the tent he was sitting in as his 3rd seated officer sat quietly with his arms crossed. The bald, muscular man was deep in thought perhaps reviewing the events that transpired earlier. As the captain looked to his left, he glared at Mashiro who was sound asleep. _'How can she sleep at a time like this? Sigh, she's more trouble than she's worth.'_

"Where did you go?" Tōsen barked at the out of breath Shinigami standing guard outside of the tent.

Trying to catch his breath and gain his composure, the seated officer retorted, "Give me a break, I went to squad 12's barracks to inform them of the situation. They said they were sending their lieutenant." The man got up and shot Tōsen a glared before talking to another officer to his left. Kaname paused for a second to examine what the officer told him and responded, "Good, we could use the help. This is a terrible situation, one that needs swift justice."

' _Just a lieutenant for reinforcements?' Tōsen chuckled to himself. 'Pitiful that the Soul Society can't handle this properly. I loathe battle, but I need to finish these guys quickly for Lord Aizen. I'm sure I can handle a lowly lieutenant too.'_

"Alright, you three," Shinobu Eishima chimed in as he was higher ranked than the two arguing, he felt the need to take control. "We should start being on guard. We'll rotate out with Kaname and me starting first." He started to walk over to the left while the other two went ahead of the masked 5th seated officer.

' _This is the path of least bloodshed'_ The purple haired man reached for his orange hilted Zanpakutō and slowly unsheathed it while whispering, "Cry, Suzumushi." A high-pitched tone pulsed over the area knocking out all the Shinigami officers outside the tent except Eishima who was barely conscious and visibly fatigued. Struggling in and out of consciousness, Eishima roared, "Tōsen! What is the meaning of this! Have you lost your honor?"

"Sorry, this is necessary for peace," Tōsen replied as he walked towards the downed officer with his bloodied sword, having killed the other two officer. Eishima mustered his strength to stand up before the slowly walking traitor came within distance. Reaching for his katana, he quickly looked down in utter shock to see blood gush from his chest.

' _Damn..Damn, impossible!'_ Barely able to stand, the 4th seated officer grimaced out, "Tōsen!"

Having heard the commotion outside, Kensei and Heizō quickly arose from the tent. Quickly scanning the area, the white haired captain noticed two of his officers were killed and his eyes fixed on Eishima who had his back turned to the two shocked men.

"Eishima! Was this your doing?" demanded an angered Kensei. Blood violently gushed out of the gravely injured Shinigami's chest. "Captain….." Eishima collapsed on the ground as Kensei was now on full guard knowing the killer was still at large.

"Kasaki, draw out your sword!" Kensei instructed. However, to his disbelief, a blade had impaled his subordinate before he could follow his captain's orders. Frantically searching again for this killer shadow, the captain sensed the spiritual pressure behind him. However, he was too slow to counter the attack as the blade inched closer to his back.

' _Damn, how could I not sense him? How was I not quick enough? Is this how it ends?'_

He let out a large shout as he tried to bring his sword up, but to his surprise a third individual got in between him and the masked killer. "What the hell is going on here?" the unannounced visitor barked. "You mind telling me why a 5th seated officer is trying to murder his captain?"

"I'm surprised that you were fast enough to stop me from finishing my mission," Kaname calmly replied ignoring the question as the two were still dead locked with their Zanpakutōs trying to gain the upper hand. "Your flash step must have improved greatly. Has Kisuke been training you?"

"Shut the hell up you blind bastard," the short haired Shinigami hissed attempting to muster her strength to gain the upper hand. "You didn't answer my question. You killed your own squad members and was about to slay your captain. Traitor! I demand an explanation!"

Kensei looked in bewilderment at the short, sassy lieutenant, but was impressed by her speed and strength as well as she fought against Kaname. _'Has she really gotten that strong? I didn't sense her Reiatsu either, but I'm glad she intervened. If not, I would have been gravely injured, or perhaps dead by that bastard, Tōsen.'_

"Hiyori," the white haired captain interjected sternly while gaining his composure and confidence. "Thanks for stepping in, if you hadn't I'd be de-"

"Yo, can all this sappy stuff wait? I'm trying to kick this guy's ass that was trying to kill you, remember?" Hiyori finally broke the deadlock of their blades and slide away from the traitor as Kensei flashed stepped back as well.

"Yeah, you're right, we've got some business to take care of and I'm not holding back," the captain asserted as his Reiatsu rose substantially. "Tōsen, you will pay for this! How dare you turn on your own squad!" He then grabbed his sword by its hilt with the blade pointing down towards the ground as if he were holding a combat knife.

"Blast It, Tachikaze!" he belted as immense spiritual pressure rose from the captain as the ground collapsed around him. The wave of Reiatsu cleared the area around the three Shinigami of all landscape, however the enemy gazed unaffected by the rise of spiritual pressure. As the pressure subsided, Kensei spun the small knife like weapon by a small ring and quickly gripped it by its black hilt.

"So, this is your shikai?" the masked officer muttered trying to provoke the two Shinigami. "I was hoping this would be over before my master came, but I guess I miscalculated. Oh, I loathe battle."

"You're really trying to piss me off, huh Kaname?" Kensei said as he visibly grew impatient by the lack of an attack by his rouge subordinate. "I thought I was your Master. Wasn't I your Captain, Kaname?"

Before he could reply, two Shinigami appeared from the wooded area behind Tōsen. One was a gray haired child with an evil grin while the other was a young man with glasses and brown hair that had a stoic disposition about him. The elder of the two seemed in charge as he had a rather calm, but intimidating appearance to him.

"I believe you are mistaken Captain Kensei," the young man stated in a rather condescending tone as he and his companion walked closer to the battlefield. "Kaname was just being a faithful servant and following orders. However, this is unexpected. I didn't think you would be alive when I arrived."

"Lord Aizen, I am sorry I failed you," Tōsen quickly retorted rather ashamed. "I was just about to finish your orders until she interfered. Please, let me handle this. I will finish what I started."

"Fascinating," the smug Shinigami quipped as he turned his attention to Hiyori. "Lieutenant Sarugaki, you arrived rather quickly to stop Kaname. I guess Kisuke Urahara is a competent captain. But in any case it's no matter. When you're cleaning the house, it doesn't matter if there are one or two ants."

Hiyori quickly turned to Kensei as they tried to hold their confidence amidst the overwhelming spiritual pressure of the sly Lieutenant who was now by Tōsen's side. She took a deep breathe and immediately snapped back to her senses. " _So, Shinji was right about this guy_ ," the brown eyed girl said with a taste of disdain in her mouth. "Hey, Sōsuke," now turning her attention back on the leader of the three men. "You wanna explain this or are you going to continue to stand there with that dumbass look on your face?

Aizen continued to observed and smirk at the two as if they were meaningless. This upset the hot headed girl even more as she grew ever impatient. She clinched her sword and with built up anger shouted, "Well, if you won't answer, I guess I'll come to you!" She flashed stepped towards the group of men as they seemed unfazed by her sudden attack. Kensei looked in shocked and shouted towards the girl, "Stop! We have to stay calm! Hiyori!"

"Impale her...Shinsō," whispered the young boy as he pointed his sword at the charged attacker. The blade rapidly extended toward the girl who was mid air with her sword above her head. Before the blade delivered the finishing blow, Kensei flash stepped in front of the two and grabbed the elongated weapon. "Idiot, never charge at your opponent without having a plan. I guess we're even now."

* * *

I realize this mirrors a lot of the manga/original story so sorry if you felt like you were reading from the manga again. I promise as the following will change a lot differently than the original story as a lot of what happens in this pendulum portion will have a ripple effect in the entire story. That being said, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and you didn't mind me not naming every character Kaname killed at the tent. More to come from the other Captains along with a very much alive Hiyori and Kensei as they face the man responsible for the treachery. I had fun writing this and thanks for reading!


	2. Split Realities

**Chapter 2: Split Realities**

 **Soul Society-Squad One Captain's Meeting**

Sirens went off throughout the Seireitei as Shinigami frantically scramble to their respective posts. "ALERT, ALERT!" a robot voiced sounded throughout the speakers of the area. A man in a white haori over his black Shinigami robe quickly sprinted through the crowd of scattered soul reapers with a worried expression on his face. _'I must hurry, she needs my help. I should've been the one who investigated, not her.'_ As he looked up, he saw the squad one barracks and with a determined stature, he bolted towards the door.

"This emergency meeting has been called in order to address the attack on squad 9," said the old, white bearded man standing in front of 11 other captains. "We will send an advanced squad of five captains in order to put an end to this nonsense. I will choos-"

A clearly fatigued captain interrupted the cane holding leader as the others turned their attention to where the outburst came from. Visibly flustered and with a hand still on the opened door, the brown haired man exclaimed, "Choose me Head Captain! I'll go and handle this." The old man did not acknowledge the captain and stood unfazed having his back turned to him grumbled, "You're late Captain Kisuke Urahara….and no I will not allow you to go."

The shocked man walked toward the head Captain with fear in his eyes as cried out in desperation, "But Captain Yamamoto, I sent my lieutenant who might be in terrible dang-"

"KISUKE, know your place!" exclaimed a short, purple haired woman who appeared angered at her colleague's disobedience. Kisuke took deep breath and change his demeanor as if he was all the sudden calm with the current situation. As he looked back at the golden eyed captain who was scolding him, he walked towards the center of the group of captains.

"My apologies sir," Kisuke said with a less aggressive tone towards the disgruntled bald leader. "Let me explain myself. Though I can not fully prove it, I believe Sōsuke Aizen is responsible for the Rukongai disappearances as well as the attacks on squad 9. I've theorized that the missing bodies as well as the clothes still being left on the ground with the gathering of footprints are some kind of experimentation. While doing research of my own, I've concluded that these trials are an attempt of….Hollowfication."

His fellow officers looked at him with an array of different reactions. Some were shocked, while others were in disbelief. As they whispered among themselves, one voice spoke up to quiet the rest. "I always knew he couldn't be trusted," the long blonde haired man scoffed as the others listened intently to what the captain had to say next. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if that were the case. I've known that boy since he was in his mother's womb. That's why I picked him as my lieutenant to keep an eye on him. He has always tried to hide in plain sight, and although I haven't witness any experimentations, Head Captain, I believe what Urahara is saying. I don't know if you have a task force already picked out, but Kisuke and I should go."

Old man Yama analyzed over the two captain's assessments and bellowed out, "Very well, Kisuke Urahara, you may go investigate the attack on squad 9 division and the disappearances of the Shinigami. Shinji Hirako, Shunsui Kyōraku, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, and Love Aikawa will accompany you. Do not make me regret my decision Captain of Squad 12, handle this swiftly and capture whoever is responsible for these crimes against the Soul Society."

Before Kisuke could answer, two cloak wearing men came in the doorway. The former having a tall, muscular stature donning slender, square framed glasses while the latter had a very large, heavy build with a thick pink mustache. _'The Kidō Corps?! Man, the old man is serious," as the bearded, straw hat wearing captain thought to himself. "I was thinking about sending Lisa, but given what Urahara had to say…I think I should go instead."_ The two men stopped and looked towards the head captain with the taller of the two speaking up. "You called for us, Captain Yamamoto? What seems to be the problem?"

"Commander of the _The Kidō Corps,_ Tessai Tsukabishi, you and your subordinate, Hachigen Ushōda will accompany the task force of captains to the Rukongai Distant immediately to take care of the matter at hand. Now if there are no further interruptions, I suggest you all leave at once. The other captains will take post and guard the Seireitei."

The group of captains all nodded in agreement at the old man's words as they all started disperse to their respective assignments. The dark complected woman walked towards Kisuke with a remorseful look in her golden eyes. "Hey Kisuke, sorry about that earlier," she said softly. "I was just looking out for you and I didn't realize the situation. If I had known that…I would have been right beside you protesting to the Head Captain as well." She paused and gazed into the distance as she was puzzled about something. "I-is it true though…the stuff about Aizen," As she reached her hand towards the brown haired man to give a sense of comfort.

Kisuke looked back at her and let out a sigh. "I can't say for certainty, Yoruichi. However, I've got a feeling about this. Something isn't right with Aizen; there is something I'm missing about the situation. But in any case, I've got to go…Hiyori needs me." As he began to walk towards the group of men waiting for him outside the door, Yoruichi spoke with a hint of concern in her voice. "Be careful out there…if it comes down to it, I'll be there if you need me."

Kisuke turned back towards her with a faint smile and a nod. "Don't worry, I'll be okay. It all will."

 **Rukongai District**

"Damn...damn….damn...," painted Kensei visibly worn down. He had cuts all over his body, but none were life threatening. He reached up to tend to a gash below his right eye as he looked with hatred at the man with the square glasses. "How is this even possible?! You haven't even moved an inch!"

"Yo, Kensei, calm down," reminded Hiyori who also looked strained and had suffered a quite of bit of damage from the one sided battle. "You're the one who said we have to remain calm." Her sword appeared different than the normal bladed katana. It was a large cleaver with a serrated saw-like blade. She stood back up and shot the grey haired captain a smirk before glancing back at the three men. "Maybe instead of attacking Sōsuke head on, we should focus on taking out the kid and that other blind dumbass. Aizen doesn't appear like he's on the offensive rather he's just passively countering every one of our attempts to land a hit on him…Let's just focus on shifting the numbers in our favor."

Kensei appeared rather surprised by the lieutenant's logic and quickly gave her a confident smile back. "Hell yeah, two against one is a lot better than three against two. I don't know what he meant when he said we were apart of his plan, but if we keep on trying this same strategy I'm sure we're going to find out. I'm surprised you were the less impulsive of the two of us and came up with a solid plan. Let's do this."

He and the hot-headed lieutenant quickly flash stepped behind the grey haired boy and Kaname. As they went in for the attack, they were both countered by the respective opponents. "Let's see how you do without trying to stab me in the back…..Kaname," challenged the tempered grey haired Captain. Tōsen and he were deadlocked as Tōsen ignored his earlier comments to look back at his leader. "Lord Aizen, sorry to intervene your observation of their power levels, should I leave them back to you?"

The brown haired leader coolly responded, "Amusing….no Kaname it's quite alright. I'll let you finish your mission. I've gathered all the data I need, you and Gin can get the process started."

"Very well…Cry, Suzumushi," as he said that a high pitched tone pulsed throughout the area. Kensei looked visibly shocked as he could not hear anything. The world turned black as he lost vision of his opponent. He clutched onto his combat bladed knife and declared, "Not this time, Tōsen!" As he said that, he swung his knife directly to his left and with that, multiple blades of wind shot out of the small weapon. The air like blades whirled around violently and connected, then exploded on contact with Kaname.

His world turned back to normal as he looked to his left and saw Kaname on the ground holding his bloodied shoulder. "That's nice little trick," he shot at the injured man. "Making my hearing and vision impaired while killing your enemy quickly. Too bad my blades cut foes down from a distance….So you seem to be at a disadvantage. I'll make you pay."

Meanwhile, Hiyori and Gin were clashing left and right violently at increased speeds. Gin shot his blade at Hiyori, but she dodged to her left and parried as the blade kept extending past her. She closed the distance between the two grinding her cleaver like blade against Gin's sword. Within striking range, she separated the clash between the elongated weapon and violently swung her blade towards his chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked shocked that the stretched out sword was gone. She looked back and saw Gin holding his Zanpakutō, and immediately flash stepped to a safe distance. _'How is that possible? He was wide open…How did that blade go back to normal without me noticing it?'_

"You seem confused," mocked the cunning child smiling towards his enemy. "I don't blame you for thinking that way at all," shrugging nonchalantly at the baffled lieutenant. "Honestly, I really don't know how that other guy grabbed my Shinsō. Those captains are pretty strong, I guess." He then looked at his blade and began to slightly frown as he noticed miniscule pieces on the edge of his sword were missing. His eyes moved back on the girl who now appeared to be smirking at him.

"Ahh, you're just now realizing it huh, shorty? You're not the only one who has shikai abilities you dumbass. My Kubikiri Orochi has plenty of fight in her. Why don't you find out for yourself?"

To her surprise, Gin did not react in the way she thought, as he smiled back at her even greater. This upset her even more causing the lieutenant to charge at the boy. As she attempting to slash Gin from different angles, none came close as he was about to dodge all of her attacks. He then went on the offensive with a barrage of thrusts towards Hiyori which seemed as though there were ten different blades coming at her. She struggled to keep up with his speed and finally was slashed on her side by the extending sword.

Blood gushed from the wound as she gripped her hand over it tight wincing in pain. She looked back at the malevolent kid with fury. She rose up her sword and shouted, "This isn't over, dumbass!" With a swing of her Zanpakutō, the jagged edges of her sword released and rushed towards Gin. Stunned by the speeds of the detached blades, Gin quickly blocked several of the shards but was unable to counter all of them as two sliced his arm and leg. He grimaced in pain from the cuts and scanned his sword to see yet again some tiny pieces of his sword had been taken from engaging the blades.

The separated pieces attached back onto Hiyori's Zanpakutō and with a violent charge towards the injured, shocked child she declared, "It's over, shorty!" With his back away from the charging lieutenant, Gin slowly turned his head and opened his eyes where his pupils were visible for the first time. As his clear blue eyes stared into his enemy, he coldly responded, "Pierce her flesh, Shinsō." The blade tore through his black robe and rapidly advanced towards the lieutenant puncturing her shoulder. _'Damn, he got me.'_ She fell onto the ground and lost grip of her sword which was now back in its normal katana looking state.

Having defeated his opponent, Kensei glanced over to his right to see the fallen lieutenant. "Hiyori! No!" He flashed stepped over to her and looked down to assess the extent of her injuries. She looked up at him with a faint smile and gently spoke. "Sorry, I couldn't help acting rash again." She closed her eyes and drifted into a state of unconsciousness.

"You're going to be fine, just hang on," he said softly as he looked up at her enemy who was slyly enjoying the scene in front of him. He then stood back up to approach his opponent. "You bastard, I'm not going to hold back, even if you are just a kid…..Bankai!" Immense spiritual pressure rose from the captain as an explosion of wind swirled around him cutting Gin's vision off of the captain. As the storm settled, Gin noticed the man had a different weapon than the combat knife he was holding earlier.

"Tekken Tachikaze," Kensei said sternly as he held firm on his stance. He clenched a pair of large knuckle blades in each hand. Both blades had a curved silver edge, which tapered off to an outward point on either side. Segmented purple bands wrapped around the entirety of his arms, much like armor, while a thicker purple band arched behind him, over his head, with its ends protruding from under his shoulders.

"That's scary stuff there Captain Muguruma. A Bankai, eh? Can't say that I have that down yet. Are you mad because your friend got hurt? You know, she was the one that attacked me first, I was only defending myself. Although, she was rather weak so I suppose I could've used a little more restrain," Gin quipped as he seemed unfazed by the increased captain's Reiatsu.

A surge of anger rushed through Kensei as Gin's comments upset him. He flash stepped towards the kid and unleashed a barrage of punches that had immense explosive power. With each strike, he increased his speed of the punches attempting to show no mercy towards the sly child who was now clearly suffering from his punches as he was coughing up blood. As he stopped his relentless attack, he saw Gin was now unconscious and had no fight left in him. He glared down at the downed opponent and back over to his fallen comrade and shouted, "Aizen, you're next. It's time we settle this."

"How intriguing," the cold man responded. "Why don't you see what's happening to those lieutenants over there?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Mashiro is stil-," the captain scoffed as he turned his jaw dropped as he was frozen in place. "It…It can't be. How?" He swiftly shifted over to his left to view his defeated adversary who was now not there anymore. Confused by the situation, he glanced over to the tent and saw a comatosed Mashiro who had a strange bee like mask on her face. "Aizen! What the hell did you do to her!" Kensei commended as he turned back to face the calm, calculated lieutenant. To his astonishment, there were two figures back at Aizen's side. _"That kid…and Kaname…I defeated both of them. How is this possible? They're conscious and don't have as much as a scratch on them!"_

"Complete hypnosis….captivating, isn't it?" Aizen coolly remarked. "My Kyōka Suigetsu ability is remarkable. You thought you were fighting Gin and Kaname..Just as I predicted."

Kensei still frozen in place unable to move was then startled by a howling noise coming from behind him. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH," shrieked a mask wearing Hiyori which donned a prominent horn centered on the forehead and a row of diamond-shaped markings over the eyebrows.

"Hi-Hiyori," gasped Kensei as he couldn't grasp what was taking place in front of him. The masked lieutenant was showing no signs of response or even cognizant response. She stormed head on to strike the captain with a flurry of lunges. _'I don't know if this is real or a façade but I'm not going to attack her,' assessed the distraught Kensei._ He dodged to the left and right and flash stepped to create distance between them.

The angered hollowfied Hiyori then lowered her head and charged a red like beam on her horn. _'Is that….a cero?'_ The cero released and shot towards Kensei who jumped up to the sky to avoid it. He looked off in the distance to see the destructive power it caused. The energy beam connected into a group of trees annihilating them entirely. As he kept ascending, he spotted Hiyori above him. Before he could react, the masked girl sent him flying towards the ground with a powerful kick. _'She got faster? Shit…..' Kensei inwardly reflected._ As he laid on the ground battered, he attempted to get up only to find the girl bearing down and raising her katana for the finishing blow.

"Yo, glad we showed up in time," an afro headed man said with a confident tone. Kensei looked up to see him clashing with the hollowfied Hiyori. He then glanced to his right to see five other figures with four donning captain robes.

"Damn, twice in one night I was saved, thanks Love," Kensei said gratefully. "Look I don't know if you're aware what's going on…. Hell this might be an illusion for all I know but Aizen is-"

"Yeah, Kisuke and Shinji told us," Love acknowledged the white haired captain's doubts. "Bankai, eh? You must've really been in trouble to use that…or worse just pissed off."

The others gathered around to pick up Kensei and aided him to get his composure back as Love and the masked girl clashed back and forth. Kisuke then flash stepped towards the three watching in the distance.

"So, I guess I was right about you," Aizen addressed to the shaggy brown haired captain approaching them. "You are indeed the man I thought you would be."

* * *

Sorry if this build up is too slow! I wanted to get the Captain's meeting as well as some battle scenes going before the task force coming in. As for Hiyori's shikai, it was never given an ability to my knowledge so I gave it similar cutting power like Kenpachi's shikai however, it's only as effective to what power level she's facing. Since it was Gin, it did minimal damage as well as the jagged blades can detach and reattach in case you were wondering! The Visoreds will still be a thing, but the amount of them might change so who knows?;) Oh, don't worry, that carrot topped soul reaper will be introduced in due time! Thanks for reading and feel free to drop a review to tell me what you think!


	3. False Hope, New Beginnings

**Chapter 3: False Hope/New Beginnings**

 **Rukongai District**

"What do you mean by that lieutenant Aizen? What did you do to your fellow comrades?" retorted Kisuke as he glanced at the unconscious Mashiro and over to the masked Hiyori firing off another cero at Love and Kensei.

"I was merely responding to the attack on squad 9 and was trying to save these injured girls." Aizen said coolly as he smirked back at Kisuke.

"You call these injuries….come on Aizen, you and I both know this is Hollowfication," Kisuke shot back as he began to clinch his fists. "Why don't you stop lying to me and confess!"

Aizen paused for a moment as if he was about to say something important but then changed his facial expression to a rather pleased look. "I think we're done here. Actually, I'm really pleased you came here tonig-"

"Takaoni," exclaimed a man attacking from above Aizen. He appeared very relaxed in his demeanor and had a flowered lady's kimono over his white haori. A gust of swirling wind appeared to be rapidly coming down from the dual wielded captain's blades as it rushed towards the glasses wearing lieutenant. The whirlpool of wind connected with Aizen but then the body of the lieutenant broke into a shattering image of glass.

"How rude of you," Aizen remarked as he appeared a little towards the left of the shattering afterimage of himself. "I was in the middle of talking, Captain Kyōraku."

The long haired captain landed beside Kisuke and shrugged while he started to smile at Aizen. "Oops, I guess I just get really uninterested whenever it's not a girl talking. So, I suppose you were right about him, Captain Urahara. Unfortunately, this means we can't allow you to leave Lieutenant Aizen."

"Allow me to leave?" Aizen said without a fear of the captain's threats. "What an interesting comment. As I said, we are done here and have collected everything we need. I'm glad you two came, Captain Urahara, Captain Kyōraku. Let's go Gin….Kaname." The leader began to walk towards the tall trees as the two subordinates followed after him.

"Did you think you could get away with this, Aizen," Kisuke shouted as he pulled up his sleeves. Black markings appeared up and down the man's arms with a glowing rectangular box now visible in the air. "Bakudō 77, Tenteikūra. With Bakudō #26, Kyokkō, I was able to make it appear invisible. Even if you do escape here, the others are now aware of your involvement with the Hollowfication experiments with this conversation being broadcasted directing into Squad 1's barracks with the remaining captains! It's over, Aizen."

Continuing to proceed into the forest, the man slowly turned his head and calmly replied, "How very amusing, Captain Urahara. Why don't you check your coordinates again?"

As Kisuke looked down at the rectangular box on the ground, his face turned into one of complete shock. _'Squad 12's captain's quarters?! There's no way that's possible!"_ The captain looked at Shunsui who was also stunned by this trickery. At a lost for words, he turned back to the three men who were almost out of sight by the denseness of the forest. "AIZEN, come back! We aren't finished here!"

"I want you to keep in mind, captain, any deception you can point out is trivial, but what's truly frightening and much more lethal is the deception you can't detect." Aizen coolly retorted as the three men disappeared into the tall trees. Glass began to shatter all around the battlefield to the two captains' surprise.

"This was a-all a hallucination," Shunsui said bewildered at the scene before his eyes. Several of the task force that had been assembled were badly wounded on the ground with white masks covering their faces. "They're all," paused the bearded captain unable to comprehend the severity of their injuries. "This can't be…his power can't be this great!"

"Captain Urahara, Captain Kyōraku," shouted the muscular cloaked commander. "Hurry, we must help Captain Ōtoribashi!" Shunsui and Kisuke looked to their right to see one of the captains on the ground holding off a Hollowfied Shinji from slashing him. The two men rushed in quickly drawing their Zanpakutōs.

With Kisuke leading the charge he shouted, "Awaken, Benihime!" His sword then transformed into a sleek, medium sized blade with gentle black-decorative wrappings to the bottom of the hilt and a crimson tassel dangling from its base. "Scream, Benihime."

A hexagon-shaped crimson barrier emitted from the sword and got in between the downed captain and Hollowfied Shinji which threw the masked captain on the ground.

Tessai then held his palms away from himself, with his arms extended out to his sides, before clasping his hands together, with his fingers intertwined intricately before exclaiming, "Bakudō number 99, part one, Kin!" With this action, the masked Shinji's arms were bound to his back with spiritual fabric and iron shafts crossing into the ground across him.

With Shinji subdued, the downed captain exhaled in relief before getting back up and dusting himself off.

"You okay Rose? You looked like you were struggling there, buddy," Shunsui chuckled as he tried to make light of the situation.

"Oh, this was not aesthetically pleasing sight at all. Look at this mess, how disheartening. It hurts my very soul," Rose replied as he looked down at all of their unconscious mask wearing comrades.

"Well, you seem to be just fine… being as dramatic as ever," Shunsui quipped back while giving a light smile and then turning back to the fallen Shinigami letting out a sigh. "Old man Yama is going to kill us. This isn't turning out really good. Kisuke, you seem to know the most about this..uhm..Hollowfication process. Anyway we can fix this?"

The brown eyed man was deep in thought before the words spoken to him registered in his ears. "Y-yes, there is a way to reverse this, but it's pretty risky to say the least. I need to bring them to my underground training area to see if I can do it."

"How are we going to get them there in that condition? I mean I know Aizen threw off our plan of informing the old man and the other captains of his treachery but we could just go tell them what happened ourselves," reasoned Shunsui as he adjusted his straw hat.

"No, that won't work. I'm sure Aizen didn't just walk away leaving us alive or even battling us without having some kind of plan. He wanted us here for a reason, perhaps to pin us as scapegoats for these experiments. However, I doubt he knew Rose was still alive so that could work in our advantage. I've got a plan, but first let's move these guys out of here," Kisuke said calmly while looking at Hiyori specifically. "Tessai."

"Yes, Captain Urahara?" the Kidō Corps commander responded.

"I want you to use Jikanteishi and Kūkanten'I to freeze time and teleport them to my underground training area," Kisuke instructed as the other captains looked at him with shock. Tessai split his hands open to show a light green light between them. "I understand that they are forbidden spells, but we have no choice. Rose, Shunsui, trust me on this, we need to be prepared for whatever Aizen is planning. Follow me and we'll meet Tessai and the others below Sōkyoku Hill."

 **Underground Training Area under Sōkyoku Hill**

The unconscious masks individuals were piled against a rock in the spacious area. The place appear rather large with the ceiling and walls painted to resemble a cloudy sky over a floor of desolate, brown, dry land dotted with dead trees. Not all was dead as in the distance there was a hot springs pool area with steam coming out from the water.

A group of three men were standing near the Hollowfied Shinigamis talking amongst themselves.

"Not bad," said the long haired captain that was sporting a ponytail with two flowered hair pins sticking out. "I wonder how long this place has been around. I could definitely relax in a place like this."

"I'm pretty bummed I didn't get invited down here," quipped Rose while looking at the hot spring. "I could have played melodies for hours while soaking away my troubles in that pool over there."

"Seems this new captain is just full of surprises," replied Shunsui as he observed the pile of bodies to his left. "He sure was prepared for anything though."

Kisuke emerged from the giant stairs above with something small and glowing in his hand. Another individual also came down the stairs carrying a coffin like box. The two approached the three men standing near the hollowfied Shinigami.

"Ahh, I see you brought Lady Yoruichi with you. Nice to see you again Captain of squad 2." Tessai responded while bowing his head as a sign of respect towards the woman.

"Tessai, how many times do I have to say it….just call me Yoruichi," scoffed Yoruichi as she shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Now, now," Kisuke interrupted while stepping in between the two. "We can talk about formalities later. For now, let's discuss strategy."

"Kisuke…w-what is that thing," Shunsui marvel as he looked at the small, bluish-purple orb composed of an unknown energy source. _'It's not any kind of spiritual pressure I know. No, it's like it is a being or presence of some sort.'_

"I call it…Hōgyoku," addressed Kisuke as he held out the orb in front of him so the others could view it. "While doing research on strengthening the Shinigami's soul, I stumbled onto Hollowfication. In the process, I created this, which destroys the barrier between hollows and soul reapers."

"And..you are going to use this to undo their condition?" Rose interjected while Kisuke shot him a nod. "How likely is it to succeed?"

Kisuke looked at Hiyori and the others before letting out a small sigh. "At best, maybe twenty percent." At which the others around him all let out gasps in shock at Kisuke's response. "I told you guys, this is a risk, but I will fix this."

Shunsui composed himself and adjusted his hat. "Well, I guess we'll have to trust in your skill and knowledge about this, Captain Urahara. There's not much else I'm sure myself, Rose or anyone else for that matter could do to help these guys. I'm certain you came up with this conclusion yourself, huh?"

Kisuke acknowledged his assessment with a nod and there was a slight pause as the group took in the information. Shunsui once again spoke up to end the silence. "Well, what are we going to do about Aizen and the other traitors?"

With a serious look and a stern tone, Kisuke acknowledged the captain's question. "As the worst possible scenario that could come from this, here's what will have to happen. I'm sure Aizen will frame me for the Hollowfication experiments of the task force sent out. With that being said, there will be a warrant out for my arrest along with Commander Tessai for using the two forbidden spells."

"What? Why would they arrest you Kisuke," protested Rose as he was the least composed in receiving this plan. "Aizen attacked all of us! If it wasn't for you two interfering, I'm sure I would be over there in that pile too! He needs to pay. Shunsui and I can go to Central 46 to reason with the council and bring Aiz-"

"It won't work Rose," captain Kyōraku piped at the angered man. "Remember, Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu puts people in complete hypnosis. That's how we're in all of this mess. Who knows how many people he has under his sword's power…but I'm sure you already theorized this yourself, Captain Urahara."

"Yeah, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who reasoned that," replied Kisuke impressed with Shunsui's analysis skills. "That's why you two can't go to Central 46. Just go back to your respective squads and we have to play this out correctly. Not to mention being patient. Rose, I'm sure he is unaware that you are alive or even was at the scene last night because he was focused on me and Shunsui. So, just play along and watch out for Gin Ichimaru. He will probably be in your squad."

Rose regained his poise and responded, "Okay, I'll trust you. I'll keep an eye on the boy. What about Shunsui and you?"

"I'm sure Aizen will be aware that Shunsui knows his betrayal. However, I don't think he'll do anything rash because he has us against the wall. At the same time, we can't expose him until we know his end game. So, Shunsui just lay low and go with whatever nonsense he tells the council."

"I suppose you're right about that," Shunsui admitted. "So, I also expect you're not going to get arrested and serve out your sentence underground, huh?"

"Well no, we need to have Aizen at least think he's succeeded in making me a scapegoat for his experimentations. So, Tessai and I will go willingly to Central 46 and Yoruichi here is going to bust us out of there. She seemed a little hurt we didn't invite her to the forest," as he patted her on the shoulder while giving her a grin.

She countered him with an elbow to the chin and then crossed her arms back looking down at the man who was visibly shaken by the hit. "Hell yeah, I was pissed and keep your hands to yourself, Kisuke. If I would have gone, maybe we wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place."

"Okay… maybe she's more than a little hurt," sniffed Kisuke as he rubbed his bruised chin. "Anyways, Yoruichi, Tessai, and I will transport these six in gigais to the world of the living so we can work on reversing the Hollowfication. I know it seems like we got our asses handed to us, but we will take down Aizen. I promise, but for now let's just stick to this plan, right?"

Shunsui and Rose smirked at each other and then looked back at Kisuke with a bit of hope in their eyes. "Right," they stated in unison with a nod, they flash stepped away and out of sight of the other three soul reapers.

"You ready for this Yoruichi?" enquired Kisuke as he switched to a more serious demeanor.

"Yeah, Suì-Fēng seemed pretty upset whenever I told her I'd be leaving indefinitely," the golden eyed captain replied with some thoughtfulness. "She wanted to come, but I told her she needs to be strong. She'll handle her role fine….Plus I'll always be right behind you so let's get moving."

"Well, alright then," chuckled Kisuke while rubbing his head. "Tessai, we better get going then."

 **World of the Living, Karakura Town: 100 years later**

A television in a home/ clinic combo was on and appeared to be on a news station covering an issue in downtown Karakura Town. "The incident occurred outside Karakura Station just after 7:30 a.m. as the morning commute was getting into full swing," the news anchor informed from the speaker of the television. The screen displayed multiple emergency vehicles and news stations reporting as people gather around a building visibly damaged with a cloud of smoke around it.

An orange spiky haired teenager entered the room and asked, "Morning, where's dad," as he grabbed a piece of toast from the counter.

"Early meeting. Said he'd be late tonight too," the raven haired child responded while sitting at the kitchen table, drinking some tea.

"Again, huh," the slim built teenager replied as he walked into the direction of the living room to see what the situation was on the television.

"Is something wrong, Ichigo," questioned the other child at the table looking rather worried at her brother's reaction to the television screen.

"That's near here," Ichigo responded with the toast dangling from his mouth. "Yuzu, Karin, I'll be back."

He ran out of the backdoor and looked up to see the cloud of smoke. _'Only a few blocks away, I can handle this real quick.'_ He rushed to the scene and heard a loud scream coming from a giant monstrous figure that was crashing its hand through a large building.

Glass poured down as the people down below began to scatter to get out of harms reach. A small girl with a chain connected to her chest began to shout as it appeared the monster locked its vision onto her.

"Help, somebody help me," the girl exclaimed as she attempted to run but stumbled. As the girl tried to get back up, she looked in utter fear as the monster was reaching down to strike her with its giant fist. She closed her eyes and put her hands up, however, to her surprise the monster's fist never connected. She heard a man's voice who sounded angered by the beast.

"You hollow scum, attacking some little girl. Bastard, prepare to die," exclaimed the man as the girl watched him slash the monster with one swing of his sword which was as big as his entire body. The monster disintegrated and slowly dissolved from her vision as the man landed on the ground putting the sword back on his back.

"Hey, you okay?" the black robe wearing man asked the girl still on the ground in shock. "C'mon kid, it's time for you to pass on now." He then turned his sword around to its hilt and tapped the girl's forehead. This caused a glowing light to encompass the entire girl's body as she slowly drifting into the ground and disappeared.

He got back up and put the blade back on his back before looking at a clock. "Damn, I'm going to be late. Yuzu and Karin are probably going to wonder where I've gone," he exclaimed as he jumped and flash stepped away from the damaged scene.

From a distance, a raven-haired woman observed the man flash stepping away from the top of a telephone pole. _'An orange haired soul reaper? I've never seen someone like that around the Seireitei. What squad does he belong to and why does he wield such a huge Zanpakutō?" the woman pondered to herself._

She looked off into the distance and whispered, "It's near." Then flash stepped away towards the city.

* * *

A/N: First of all, thanks so much for the reviews and follows! It means so much that people enjoy this! So to recap, Rose and Lisa are not visoreds! That being said, obviously Gin will not be a Captain which might play into why he doesn't die! Ichigo doesn't get his powers from Rukia so that's about all that changed…so far! Again thanks for reading and always let me know your guys' thoughts!


	4. Family Business

**Chapter 4: Family Business**

 **Kurosaki Residence, Later that Night**

Ichigo walked through the front door exhausted from the day his day at school. He let out a yawn and announced, "Hey, I'm hom-"

A voice shouted, "HELLLOOOO ICHIGOOO." To his surprise, a large, muscular man was charging towards him with full force attempting to deliver a kick.

The orange spiky haired teen caught the assailant's leg with both hands and hurled him towards a wall. He calmly kept walking towards the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat.

As he spotted some rice and chicken in a dish, he grabbed a plate and looked back at the man on the ground. "Dad, I could sense your spiritual pressure from outside….you might want to do a better job of concealing it before charging in with that ridiculous flying kick of yours."

The black spiky haired man got back on his feet again and dusted himself off while giving his son a smile. "Heh, nothing gets past you nowadays. I got excited for an instant and let out a miniscule amount of Reiatsu…and you still sensed it. Impressive, how was your day at school?" he said while taking a seat at the table.

Ichigo walked over with his plate of food towards the table and sat down across from his father. "Just another day, really, nothing worth mentioning," he replied as he took a bite of his food.

"And what about the hollow from this morning," Isshin inquired with a seriousness in his voice.

"Like I said, nothing worth mentioning," his son quipped back as he seemed more focused on his food than the conversation. "I sliced that bastard up with one swing and performed a Konsō on a young girl and bounced."

"Well…there's another hollow lurking about nearby so just keep your head on a swivel. I don't want you to be caught off guard. Plus….we've got company, there's another soul reaper in town. I don't know what the Soul Society is up to."

"Dad, give it a rest will ya?" groaned Ichigo as he patted his stomach clearly satisfied with his meal. "I already sensed those spiritual pressures too. I sensed that Shinigami's Reiatsu from earlier today. Sheesh, it's been nearly a year since I've attained soul reaper powers but you still get worried about me dealing with just a simple hollow."

Isshin shot his son a puzzled look and opened his mouth to scold the boy for the smart comments before looking back down at the table realizing he had a point. "It's just, we have to be ready. We have to get stronger. Aizen still hasn't revealed his motives yet and that troubles me."

He took a pause and scanned around the room as though he was searching to make sure no one else was listening to the conversation before whispering, "I was thinking…maybe….m-maybe we should get Yuzu and Karin in the mix too."

"Really?" Ichigo responded as he jolted up from his relaxed position, taking the conversation seriously now. "Don't you think it would be too dangerous for them? I mean you and Kisuke did say Aizen is one of the most powerful Shinigamis in the Soul Society. How can they help?"

"Well to be frank, I agree with you completely son," the bearded man admitted while his eyes began to shift from the table and into the eyes of Ichigo. "However, with the present circumstances, the more people who aren't affected by Kyōka Suigetsu, the better chances we have in taking that treacherous bastard down."

"I don't know dad, the last thing in the world I'd want is for Yuzu or Karin to be in harm's way. Wouldn't it be safer if they didn't know about us, Aizen, or the Soul Society?" Ichigo protested.

Isshin rose up from his seat and walked towards a window taking in his son's question. With his arms behind his back and a deep gaze into the night sky, he responded, "Ichigo…what if there was a hollow that was near by like that one from earlier today and I didn't tell you about my past as a Shinigami or how to obtain your soul reaper powers?"

Ichigo's eyes widened from his father's question. He knew he wouldn't like that. He knew he would want to know the truth from the beginning.

"And what if you were defenseless to that Hollow and couldn't help that soul or even yourself.

Ichigo came to a sudden realization. Although he wanted to keep his sisters safe, he knew they would have to get stronger themselves. They would have to fight too. He couldn't be there at all times to protect them nor could his father. "Yeah, you're right dad. I wanted to know the truth. They should have the right to know it too and decide for themselves if being a Shinigami is the path they want to take."

The two stared at each other from a moment as if they were both in agreement, both on the same page. Ichigo gave his father a nod and took his plate back into the kitchen and put the dirty dish in the sink.

"Now that we're in agreement, let's get down to logistics. I'm sure Karin will be all on board with the truth and want to obtain her Shinigami powers to join the fight. She's a natural born fighter and takes after me in that right. However, Yuzu takes after her mother, so it'll probably take a little more convincing…maybe from her big brother!"

Ichigo, surprised by his father's suggestion, aggressively pointed his finger back at the bearded man and shot back, "Me!? How is that my job? This sounds more like a father daughter talk than a sibling conversation! How am I supposed to approach it?"

He changed his voice to a rather sarcastic tone, "Hey Yuzu, so I'm actually a soul reaper! Oh, and so is dad! Oh, what's that you ask? Good question, we just kill big giant looking creatures called hollows who try to eat human souls! Oh, but that's not all, there's this powerful Shinigami called Aizen who has the power of complete hypnosis who is a traitor of the Soul Society that we have to take down!"

Ichigo seemed out of breath by the time he finished his hypothetical conversation. Stressed and winded, he waited for a response from his father who had been quiet for a few moments after his son's rant.

"Well, when you put it like that," replied Isshin with his son intently listening. "It should go over just fine! Well said, son!"

As he put his thumb up for approval, Ichigo sprinted towards him with gritted teeth and fists clench. He then swung with full force and connected a right jab to his father's face. "Are you kidding me right now!? I've had it up to here, old man! There's no wa-"

"Relax, Ichigo," the man instructed as he began to get up. "Yuzu trusts you. She'll listen to whatever you have to tell her. Just explain what's going on and that we're all counting on her. I wouldn't let you handle this if I didn't trust you could get through to her."

Ichigo felt moved by his father's words and calmed back down from his previous outbursts. He pondered for a moment and then asked, "Well, when are we going to have this talk with them?"

"Hmm, let's do it sometime this week. We'll take them over to Kisuke's underground training facility and if they're on board, we can start training them immediately after."

Ichigo gave his dad a confident smirk and responded. "Alright then, sounds good to me. Can't wait to get started, but anyways I'm pretty beat. I'm going to bed. Thanks for the talk dad."

Isshin walked towards his son as if he was going to embrace him but then swiftly kneed him right in the stomach. Ichigo immediately hunched over in pain and glared at the man who attacked him without any reason or warning.

"Can't have you going soft on me boy," proclaimed the father as he walked away giving his son a wave goodbye. "Always be on guard, goodnight Ichigo."

Ichigo kept glaring at his father as he disappeared from his vision mumbling to himself. He recovered from the hit he took earlier and proceeded to walk up the stairs to go to his room.

 **Ichigo's room, 20 minutes later**

Lying in bed, Ichigo stared up at the ceiling reflecting on the conversation he had with his father earlier downstairs. _'Is Yuzu and Karin ready for all of this? They're only 11….but dad's right, to have a chance in defeating Aizen..we'll need their strength too. I just don't know how much time we'll ha-'_

His thoughts were interrupted by a woman in a black robe carrying a Zanpakutō standing on his window sill. She had a serious demeanor as she stared off into the abyss. " _It's getting closer,'_ she thought to herself.

Ichigo analyzed the woman for a second and saw the short raven hair with several strands of hair flowing down between her eyes. He then rose up quickly and remembered the spiritual pressure he sensed earlier and thought to himself, _'Oh, that's the Shinigami from earlier today!"_

"Hey, you," Ichigo addressed the purple eyed intruder. "You mind telling me why you're in my room?"

The woman jumped off the ledge of the window and onto the floor disregarding the question. She continued to focus off into the distance as if she was contemplating something of deep importance.

"HEY, SOUL REAPER! Are you not listening to me?" exclaimed Ichigo getting exponentially upset at the lack of response by his intruder. He got out of bed and turned on the light then proceeding to approach the woman.

To the jet black haired Shinigami's shock, her eyes widened as she awoke from the state of trance she was in. She stared back at a medium built teenaged with bright orange hair clearly upset. "That's strange. It's like he can see me," the woman speculated aloud.

"That's because I can, dumbass," scoffed Ichigo as he crossed his arms. "Did you not here me earlier? I said you mind explaining to me why you're in my room?"

The woman looked back at Ichigo dumbfounded as she struggled to find anything substantial to say. She finally stammered out, "B-but I can't be s-seen by normal humans."

Ichigo grinned back at the woman and proclaimed, "Boy, nothing really gets past you. Who said I was a normal human? Now, are you going to deal with that Hollow outside or you going to keep standing there with that dumbass look on your face?"

An immense Reiatsu shook throughout the room as a deafening outcry sounded from outside the home. "H-how did you sense t-that?" the woman exclaimed as she appeared paralyzed in place by the sudden appearance of the hollow outside.

Ichigo walked over to his dresser and picked up a small pill bottle. He let out a deep sigh and replied, "I guess I'll go handle this."

"Wait, how are you going to handle it?! You fool, there's no way you could handle a full fledged hollow!" interjected the woman looking at the teen in fear.

"Like I said, who said I was a normal human," quipped Ichigo as he popped a small green ball into his mouth. The woman gaped as she saw a black robed Shinigami carrying a sword as large as his body split from the teen's body. _'T-that's the Soul Reaper from earlier today…"_

The teen swordsman jumped out of the window and towards the shouting hollow. "Hey! Wait up!" she exclaimed as she followed him to confront the monster.

"Yo, would you shut the hell up," Ichigo shouted at the hollow who stood at least three times his height. It had a fish-like mask and a dorsal fin on his back. His shoulders and arms are plated with what appears to be a part of his mask and his body is covered with dark gray stripes, resembling the scales of a fish.

"You're going to wake my family up if you keep on shouting, fish face," explained Ichigo as took his Zanpakutō off his back and gripped it with both hands. The hollow let out another loud shout and began to reach for the spiky haired soul reaper.

Ichigo jumped up and sliced off the hollow's extended arm while landed behind the beast. The fallen limb hit the ground and the fish like hollowed screamed in pain.

"I said shut up," bellowed Ichigo as he swung his blade at the back of the hollow's head, splitting it in half. It slowly vanished away leaving just its killer and another Shinigami who was watching the one sided battle from a distance.

"J-just who are you? What squad are you in?" snapped the woman walking towards Ichigo as if she was trying to assert authority over him.

He put the large Zanpakutō back on his back and chuckled at the woman's question and sudden change of her demeanor realizing she was more scared than anything else. "I don't believe you answered me before I took care of this hollow of yours, now did ya? For the third time, who are you and what were you doing in my room?"

The defensive Shinigami gawked at Ichigo and was taken back as if she was offended by such a question. She looked at him with a sternness and replied, "I'm Rukia Kuchiki of fifth seat officer of the 13th division in the Gotei 13 from the So-"

"Shut up…gosh, I didn't ask for your life story. I just wanted to know your name."

"W-what, what did you just say?" Rukia stammered back.

"I said shut up! I know you're from the Soul Society already. I just didn't know your name," explained Ichigo as he pointed to his chest. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki and I'm a Shinigami too. Why don't you come inside, invited this time, and I'll explain things to you."

' _I guess I don't have much of a choice. That's why I couldn't sense that hollow earlier. What immense spiritual pressure.'_ She thought to herself. She looked back at Ichigo and nodded and replied, "Alright then, thanks for handling that hollow."

The two Shinigami flash stepped away from the street and back towards the Kurosaki residence.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Sorry for the short chapter, but it seemed like the proper place to stop before diving in any further! Also quick poll, I'd really appreciate feedback so please respond in the reviews with a digit number and an brief explanation (PLEASE) to the following question:**

 **Would you guys like me to:**

 **1) Continue the next 4-5 chapters on the substitute arc bringing in all the familiar characters (Chad, Uryū, Orihime, etc.) and the development of Yuzu's and Karin's Shinigami powers?**

 **2) Have a normal chapter skim through the above question and just jump into the Soul Society Arc?**

 **I could take this either way, but I would love to hear what you guys! The readers would enjoy more! I don't know if this pace is good or not so please let me know! Thanks for reading as always :)**


	5. The Awakening

**Chapter 5: The Awakening**

 **Ichigo's Room, An Hour Later**

"You must be mistaken," Rukia protested as she gasped at the orange haired Shinigami. "Captain Aizen would never betray the Soul Society! He's a kind, caring man. Plus Kyoka Suigetsu is a running water-type Zanpakutō; he showed its power in front of all the lieutenants!"

"Gosh, you talk too much," Ichigo retorted back as he began scratching his head. "I told you all I know from my old man and Kisuke. They were both affected by Aizen's treachery. Why would I make this all up?"

Rukia paused for a moment to analyze the information that this mysterious teen Shinigami explained to her. _'How could this be true? I've never heard of visoreds or Hollowfication….However, there wouldn't be any point of him lying to me about this.'_

"Well, then," she replied with a slight hesitation in her voice trying to grasp the brutal truth that a captain in the Gotei 13 is a traitor. "What is Captain….I mean Sōsuke Aizen planning to do now?"

Ichigo began to frown at the question being asked to him. He tried to find a right way to phrase a confident answer but could not correctly respond which clearly frustrated him.

He looked back at her and replied, "I…I don't know. Well, none of us really do. Shunsui hasn't had much luck in uncovering anything so we're really at an impasse until Aizen makes his move."

"I see, perhaps I should report this back to Captain Ukitake and see what he thinks." Rukia concurred as in hopes that she found a viable solution.

"You idiot," Ichigo mimicked Rukia's tone of voice. "What part of COMPLETE hypnosis do you not comprehend?"

"W-what, w-well I.." Rukia stammered as her voice began to trail off in embarrassment.

"On second thought, you probably shouldn't go back to the Soul Society. You could be some kind of pawn in all of this, let's just see what Kisuke and my dad thinks about this." Ichigo concluded as he merged back into his human body. He collapsed on the bed exhausting from the day and began to shut his eyes.

Rukia stared at the spiky haired teen and froze up, not knowing what she should do or where should she go. She scanned the room as she concluded this was perhaps the first time being in a human's home.

The place was small and quite simple. To the right of the passed out teen's bed was a desk with a chair. Some school books were neatly stacked on the shelves as various papers with what appeared to be school work laid across the desk. To the left was just a simple dresser and behind her she saw a small sliding closet.

Done with her assessment of the room, awkwardly, she piped, "Hey Ichigo, uhm, what am I supposed to do now?

The exhausted teen huffed and threw a pillow at her. As she scrambled to recover from the surprise object tossed at her, he grumbled, "Just go to sleep or something."

"R-right here?" she asked with a sense of shock and slightly embarrassed to be inside basically a stranger's room, moreover a young male adolescent made it all the more flustering.

"No…on my roof dumbass," hissed the increasingly sleep deprived male. "Of course here, now I'll talk to you in the morning."

The raven haired Shinigami stared blankly at the now unconscious teen sprawled out on his bed. _'I guess I'll just stay here for the night…what a strange night. Hopefully this all makes sense tomorrow.'_

 **Urahara's Shop, The Next Day**

"Hey dummy, come over here and sweep," shouted a small boy with bright red hair which was spiked at the top and also on each side of his head. He was shouting at a small girl holding a broom. The girl appeared to be around the same age and height as him.

"But Jinta, it's your turn to sweep," protested the girl with a sad expression on her face. "This is the third day in a row I've swept and you promised you would today!

"Ah, shut up Ururu," asserted Jinta aggressively pointing his finger at the girl. "I'm the boss here and what I say goes! You got that?"

"But I thought Mr. Urahara was the boss," questioned Ururu as she timidly put her head down.

"What'd you say?" exclaimed Jinta as he proceeded to chase after the girl. However, right before he was in closing distance to grab her, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and saw three figures approaching the shop.

He squinted his eyes to get a better look at the individuals approaching and made out a woman in Shinigami robes with a Zanpakutō sheathed on her side. To the left of her were two humans, the first was perhaps a high schooler with bright orange colored hair. The other one was a middle aged man wearing a white lab coat over a Hawaiian shirt.

"A soul reaper….with an old man and some carrot top looking kid," whispered Jinta to the girl who was also perplexed by the relation of these figures approaching. "Who are these guys?"

"It looks like a Shinigami and two humans to me," replied Ururu with a blank expression on her face. The boy glared at Ururu for pointing out the obvious. Before he could open his mouth to rant his displeasure with her, the bearded man spoke up.

"Hey kid, can you get Mr. Urahara and tell him Isshin Kurosaki is here to see him?"

With a puzzled looked on the boy's face, Jinta hissed back, "What's your business here? What do you want with Mr. Urahara?"

Before the man could reply back, a raspy voice shot out of the entrance of the shop. "Hey there, Isshin. It's been awhile…to what do I have the pleasure?"

A tall, lean-built man emerged from the front of the shop donning a dark coat that had a white diamond pattern along its bottom half, with a dark green shirt and pants underneath. His messy light blond was covered with a striped green and white bucket hat while his face was hidden by a fan.

"You can cut out the formalities, Kisuke," clipped Isshin as he pointed to the Shinigami. "We might have a bit of a problem."

"Ah, I see," acquiesced the sandals wearing man. He motioned them with a waving hand and proposed, "Come on in so we can discuss this further, Isshin, Ichigo, and…Miss Kuchiki."

The raven haired soul reaper froze in place. _'What, but how? How does this man know that I'm a Kuchiki? Who is he?'_ Noticing that the group had vanished inside the building, she regained her composure and caught back up with the group.

Inside appeared to be a typical food and goods' store. It had three aisles of various bins of merchandise and towards the front of the shop was a cash register and employee's counter.

"We'll, go to my guest room," Kisuke addressed the individuals behind him. He went to the right of the register and continued to walk down a hallway. Stopping at the second door, he opened a sliding shōji door and entered into the room. It was a very plain room with tatami flooring and a small plant in the corner of the room.

He took a seat on the floor and motioned for the others to do the same. He then peered over his fan and calmly spoke, "So, do you think she has anything to do with Aizen?"

"I'm not sure…that's a good question," Isshin responded while deep in thought. "I mean she is the first soul reaper to come here in a while. Well, first one with high spiritual pressure."

"Well, she did seem pretty genuine in not knowing Aizen was a traitor so I doubt she works for him," added Ichigo.

Realizing the three men were having a full fledged conversation about her as if she wasn't in the room, she interjected, "Hey, I'm literally right here, you fools! Quit talking about me like I'm not here. I am not a traitor and a demand to know why I can't go back to the Seireitei!"

The three men simultaneously looked at the visibly upset woman, surprised at how angry she was before Kisuke spoke up. "Miss Kuchiki, my apologies. As Ichigo explained to you, the Aizen you know is nothing more than a façade. 100 years ago, he did Hollowfication experiments on top level Shinigami including lieutenant and captain level personnel. He framed me, or so he thought, for the crime and I took hiding here trying to heal those hollowfied Soul Reapers."

Rukia listened intently as Kisuke continued explaining. "Well, two captains that were with me that night, Captain Shunsui Kyōraku and Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, have been working with me on devising a plan in order to stop Aizen and bring him to justice."

"Well what the hell is talking you so long?" exclaimed Rukia as Kisuke was taken back by her reaction.

"W-well I, you see…it's just," Kisuke stammered trying to calm the situation.

"All I hear are excuses Mr. former captain Kisuke Urahara! How can it take 100 years to bring someone in for treason and Hollowfication experiment crimes?!"

"Miss Kuchiki, calm down, it's not that simple," explained the bucket hat wearing man with an increased sternness to his voice. "He is a master manipulator and a very high intellectual. Not only that, his Zanpakutō has the power of complete hypnosis that can control all five senses."

Rukia slowly calmed back down knowing the man was right. Despite his laid back demeanor and calm manner, he was highly intelligent and had a vast hold of things. If he hadn't exposed Aizen yet, there must've not been an opportunity to.

"Plus, Aizen hasn't done anything with enough evidence to convince the others yet," contributed a golden eyed woman who was posted up on the doorway.

"Ahh, Yoruichi, nice of you to join us," Kisuke chuckled as he held his fan to hide in face again. "One more and we'll have a representative from all four of the noble houses!"

' _Wait, one more?! Who is this woman? Moreover, I thought I was the only one of nobility in here.'_ Rukia pondered studying the long purple haired woman. She asked, "Umm, Mr. Urahara, what did you mean by one more?"

"Miss. Kuchiki, it must've slipped by mind! Yoruichi here has been away for 100 years as well. This is Yoruichi Shihōin, 22nd Head of the Shihōin Clan, Former Captain of the 2nd Division, and Former Commander of the Ste-"

"Oh, can it Kisuke," Yoruichi hissed at Kisuke. "Please, just call me Yoruichi. It's so nice to meet you. I had a lot of fun playing with your brother when he was younger."

"You knew my brother," marveled Rukia trying not to sound too excited. "Umm, anyways, nice to meet you Yoruichi. But, I'm still confused…who exactly is the other house of Nobles?"

"Oh, yes Byakuya was a hot-headed one," cackled Yoruichi. "He always got mad because he could never beat me in a game of tag. To your other question, that's Isshin Shiba of the Shiba Clan," the golden eyed woman added while pointing to the older gentleman in the lab coat.

"What," Rukia gasped as she thought back to her days under the former deceased lieutenant, Kaien Shiba. "Ichigo…you never told me you were apart of the Shiba Clan."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I guess I forgot to," Ichigo responded nonchalantly. "Why is that such a big deal?" he asked noticing the shock on Rukia's face.

"It's not," blurted Rukia quickly changing her face back to normal. "I just thought that would be something you would say from the beginning. Anyhow, what do you mean by enough evidence," she inquired turning her attention back to Yoruichi. "Have you guys found out anything?"

"Well, what we do know is that he is working with the hollows in Hueco Mundo. For what purpose, we are yet to understand. However, we feel he is very close in striking so we need to be ready."

Rukia nodded in agreement and shifted towards Kisuke again, "Well, what can I do?"

The man folded up his fan and then responded, "Well, unfortunately you'll probably need to lay low for awhile her. I'll get Ururu to get you a gigai that's untraceable by the Soul Society so we can plan our next move."

"Hey Ururu," exclaimed Kisuke towards the door. "Go to the back and get a gigai for Miss. Kuchiki, will ya?"

"Okay boss," a timid voice shouted back.

"Now, Isshin, wasn't there something else you wanted to discuss with me?" Kisuke asked in a tone that implied he knew the answer.

Isshin looked back at his son, took a deep breath, and then replied. "I want Yuzu and Karin to obtain their Shinigami powers here in your underground facility. Ichigo and I have spoken to them both and they are ready to begin the process. I figure the more people we have that haven't seen Aizen's Shikai, the better our chances are."

"Well then if that's what you want, I'll help you. But, you know as well as I do the process is very dangerous. Do you think they are ready?" Kisuke advised the man while looking up from his hat to meet him at eye level.

"Karin already has spiritual energy and pressure so she'll just need to go through basic sword training and figuring out her Zanpuktō's name and abilities," Isshin responded confidently before pausing with a hint of concern. "However, Yuzu doesn't have her spiritual pressure unlock so she'll have to go through the Shattered Shift process."

"I see," Kisuke assessed while motioned the young girl holding a box. "Well, if you're fully confident, we can get started training tomorrow. I'll train Yuzu and your son and you can train Karin."

The three men shook their heads in acknowledgement while Kisuke grabbed the box from the girl. She left the room promptly and Kisuke handed it to Rukia.

"Rukia, I want you to tag along with Ichigo to school. You two need to search for anyone that has high Reiatsu. I sensed faint pressures from that school from Ichigo's friends. We might be able to use them in the upcoming battle."

"What?! She can't go with me to school!" Ichigo interrupted with a stunned expression.

"Oh? Why can't I? Scared I'll harm your reputation?" quipped Rukia smirking at the pouting teen.

"Whatever," Ichigo shot back. "Let's just get this over with."

"You two play nice," interjected Kisuke with a faint grin. "Remember; if there's a hollow, let Ichigo handle it, Rukia. You need to stay in that gigai so you don't get detected."

She acknowledged him with a stern head nod and the three visitors proceeded to leave the room.

 **Karakura High School, The Following Day**

As the bell sounded, two high school girls began walking to their next class. One was slender yet had a curvaceous figure for a teenager, especially in terms of her large breasts. She wore her long, waist-length, burnt orange hair in bangs tucked behind her ears with hairpins. The other had a contrasting appearance to her friend having a very lean frame with a tomboy styled haircut that was short, black, and spiked out at the sides.

"Did you finish your assignment for class, Orihime?" asked the tomboy towards her friend.

"Oh, yes! It's going to be an awesome presentation! I'm so excited. I just hope the teacher likes it," exclaimed the orange haired girl. "What about you?"

"Well now I'm looking forward to seeing it," her friend answered back. "Yeah, I just got it done last night. Hey, who's that girl with Ichigo?"

Orihime looked down the hallway to see Ichigo with a raven haired girl with a slender frame. She began to blush and frowned to herself although she hid this expression from her friend. She had deep admiration for Ichigo ever since she met him.

"I have no idea! She's really pretty though," spluttered Orihime as the two walked up towards them. "Hey, Ichigo! How are you today?"

"Hey Orihime, I'm doing well," replied Ichigo with a blank expression. "What about you?"

Before Orihime could reply, her friend angrily piped up. "Ichigo, how rude! Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend there?!"

"Sorry about that Tatsuki," answered Ichigo. "Orihime, Tatsuki…This is Rukia Kuchiki. She's a new transfer student in our class. I'm just helping her around on her first day," he explained as he began to look at Rukia.

"Rukia, these are some of my clas-erm..I mean friends that are in our class," Ichigo continued, motioning his hand towards his two classmates.

' _These two definitely have high spiritual pressure for humans. The short haired girl has Reiatsu similar to Ichigo and me, but the other one…I have no idea what kind of energy she possesses.'_ She then grinned widely at her two new classmates and chirped, "It's a pleasure to meet you two."

"Nice to meet you too," Tatsuki replied while glaring at Ichigo. "Is this guy giving you any trouble? He can be rude without even knowing it."

"Oh, no not at all," Rukia smiled as she continued her over the top smile. "He's been so helpful."

"Great, can we get going now? We're going to be late for class, you know?" Ichigo chided looking down at his watch. He began to walk towards the classroom as the three girls followed along chattering to themselves.

As he got to the door, he heard a loud howling noise in the distant and looked out the window to see a soul being chased by a spider like monster. _'Great, of all times, a hollow appears,' Ichigo grumbled to himself._

"You guys go on in without me," he hinted while rubbing his head. "I actually forgot to print out that assignment so I'll be a little late."

He started running back down the hallway and to his surprise Rukia was following him. The two remaining girls, were confused at the randomness and sudden change in their demeanors, but headed into the classroom.

"What was all of that about," asked Tatsuki to her friend who was seating down in her desk. Orihime shrugged back at her question which caused Tatsuki to ponder even more.

She sat down and stared out the window. Stunned, she saw the new girl running beside a black robed man with a taped up sword down his back. _'Is..is that Ichigo?'_

"Okay, class, let's get started," the teacher instructed which sounded more like a murmur to Tatsuki, still fixated on the window.

"Miss Ochi, may I go to the bathroom?" Tatsuki injected as she interrupted the first student doing their presentation. The teacher gave her a glare, then an eye roll and gestured her to go quickly.

She proceeded to leave the classroom and sprint quickly to investigate what Ichigo was up to. _'What on earth was Ichigo wearing? Why did he have that big ass sword?'_

She made her way outside and scanned the area quickly to look for where the spiky orange haired kid vanished to.

Over the horizon, she saw a cloud of smoke go up along with a few screams and darted to that direction. As she arrived, she looked around to discover she was on a small playground. The dust began to dissolve and three figures were standing about thirty feet away from her.

"Alright kid, ready to go to the Soul Society?" asked the black robed figure as he turned his sword towards the hilt and tapped it on the young boy's head.

" _Th-that's Ichigo for sure. What's he doing to that kid?!'_ As the child began to shine brightly and slowly vanish before her eyes. "I-Ichigo! What's happening?" Tatsuki hollered still frozen in place by what she witnessed.

"So, you can see me, Tatsuki?" replied Ichigo putting the sword back on his back. "Well, in that case, come with me tomorrow. I'll explain everything when we get there."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?! I'm not just going to do that after what I just saw! You just killed some kid!"

"No, you got it all wrong. I killed a Hollow which I guess you didn't see before you showed up. It was chasing after that kid which was a whole, or a soul who has wondered on in this world for too long. I just performed a Konsō, which let him pass peacefully into the afterlife," explained Ichigo calmly.

With the words being stuck in the back of her throat, she started stammering before Ichigo calmly put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," consoled Ichigo. "Listen, I know this is a scary thing to see. But if you can see us, it means you've got high spiritual pressure."

She looked up at the Shinigami, still not knowing what to say, but feeling a little less frightened and more at ease. "Okay so what does that mean?"

Ichigo stared back at the worried girl with a glint of confidence in his eye and sternly asked. "Well, don't you love fighting and the thrill of kicking ass?"

Tatsuki changed her expression at the sound of that question. She smirked back at the soul reaper and replied, "Hell, yeah."

 **Underground Training Facility, below Urahara's shop, 12 hours later**

Across the desert ground underneath the shop, three girls nervously stood in front of a group of five Shinigami; three males and two females respectively. They waited in patience as the individuals talked among themselves, pointing and debating towards the girls.

It was apparent they were the subject matter, seeing that's what they were down there for. The young spiky haired girl looked over to her left and asked, "Hey, aren't you two Ichigo's little sisters? What are you guys doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? The same reason you're here. To awaken our Shinigami powers," Karin quipped back nonchalantly sharing the same tone that her brother has at times. Her sister remained quiet, looking down at the ground and wondering how she was talked in to this situation.

"Yuzu, it's going to be okay," Karin affirmed. "Remember why we're here. We're here to get stronger. Here to help dad and Ichigo, right?"

Yuzu slowly nodded but did not change her demeanor or position as she still stared blankly at the ground.

"Alright girls," a voice shot up to break the tension. "Obviously, we all know why we are here. So let's get down to business. Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki, and Tatsuki Arisawa, thanks for having the courage to come to awaken your Shinigami powers."

The man in hat and clogs slowly approached the three girls. "Once we've unlocked your soul reaper powers and you have discovered your Zanpakutōs true identity and power, we will begin training. Karin, your trainers will be your dad and brother. Yuzu, you'll train with myself and Rukia. As for you Tatsuki, Lady Yoruichi will be training you."

The three girls scanned their assigned leaders and wondered how they hard they will go on them and what their power was like. They were interrupted by the cane holding man addressing them again.

"If there are no questions, are you girls ready to begin?" asked Kisuke with a faint smirk on his face.

In unison, they shouted, "Yes!"

* * *

 **A/N: Alright guys! Sorry again if the build up was slow, but I had to set it up to get Tatsuki involved as a Shinigami. My reasoning here is that, Ichigo's other friends have their respective powers that we all are aware of so I had to get the three that deserved powers in the limelight! It's all about to go down next chapter, as it took me forever to create their abilities and Zanpakutos, but I think you guys will really like them!**

 **PS: Thanks for responding to the poll! We will go with a 4-5 chapter approach in the substitute arc to unravel the rest of the characters and hone their skills before the Soul Society Arc! Again, thanks for reading and be sure to review with any questions or comments you may have! :)**


	6. The Divine, The Demon and The Delirious

**Chapter 6: The Divine, The Demon, and The Delirious**

 **Underground Training Facility, below Urahara's shop**

Tatsuki bent down trying to catch her breath from the intense training. How long had she been down there? It felt like days but she really couldn't tell with the walls and ceiling painted blue like the vast sky. Most of the time, when she was in a fight, she came out on top. However, today was nothing she's ever experienced.

"Don't tell me you're finished already, Tatsuki," challenged Yoruichi who seemed as if she hadn't broken a sweat yet.

Wiping off some dirt marks and scratches from her face, the short haired teen got back on her feet. _'Damn, she's so quick. Sometimes I can't even track her with my eyes, much less dodge or counter her attacks. We've been going at this for hours, at this point..I'm not sure how long I can hold out.'_

"No answer, huh," Yoruichi stated quietly assuming her new apprentice had enough of a beat down today. "Well I guess you've give-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she looked up to see Tatsuki charged at her with a quick burst of speed and started launching a flurry of jabs and straights. Yoruichi, caught off guard by the sudden speed and precision of the attack, was left on the defensive.

She successfully blocked a right jab, then a right straight, and a left straight coming at her an extreme pace and then again in a different set of combinations. Left, right, left. Right, left, left. Left, right, right, left. This went on for what seemed like an eternity for Tatsuki. No matter how fast she punched or how powerful she delivered them, none would connect. In a sudden rage, she quickly vanished from Yoruichi's field of vision.

' _What? A flash step?'_ she thought while quickly scanning for her opponent. The new apprentice appeared behind her master and saw an opening to inflict some damage. Surprised at her fast movement, she hesitated for an instant and proceeded to strike Yourichi's side with a kick.

This hesitation was taken advantage of by Yoruichi, who caught her foot, pulled the girl towards her and delivered a swift punch to the stomach which sent the young Shinigami flying back. Tatsuki hit the ground considerably hard and rolled violently into a large rock, thus stopping her momentum.

' _What the hell was that? I went so fast, it felt like I teleported behind her,'_ Tatsuki pondered as she wiped some blood away from the side of her mouth. Still leaning against the rock, she looked up and saw the golden eyed woman walking towards her. She then saw Yoruichi disappear from her sight and suddenly appear right in front of her.

"If you wouldn't have hesitated like that back there, you definitely would have landed a hit," Yoruichi confessed as she lent a hand to her downed pupil. "That speed you displayed during that sudden attack was impressive."

However, the compliment didn't register to Tatsuki who was clearly frustrated by how much she was getting dominated by her trainer. Could a person really be this skilled? Could they be that quick?

"I still haven't landed a single blow on you though," grunted Tatsuki while dusting her sleeveless Shihakushō and a purple sash tied around her waist. She looked down at her new attire wondering why Yoruichi gave her this instead of the black kimonos all the other Shinigamis both trainers and trainees were wearing.

"Listen, you're still learning," explained Yoruichi trying to encourage her student. "Fighting against a captain level soul reaper like me will be difficult at first, but you're get immense experience, speed, and strength from the training. So, don't beat yourself up, you're actually exceeding my expectations."

"Really…well thanks Lady Yoruichi..I..I just," stammered the young Shinigami because of the compliment she received. "I just want to get stronger! I want to become better!"

"And you will Tatsuki," her master replied with a faint smile.

"Master, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"When you disappeared for a moment before you helped me up…well was that some sort of trick?" asked Tatsuki still puzzled by that earlier event.

"No, not a trick," chuckled Yoruichi as she leaned against a rock. "There are four basic combat skills of Shinigami. Zanjutsu, the art of sword and using one's Zanpakutō to its full potential. Kidō, the art of combat spells. Hakuda, the art of close combat hand to hand fighting. Finally Hohō, the art of movement which relates to footwork."

Tatsuki listened and nodded contently as her master continued to explain. "What you saw was the skill of Hohō and more specifically a flash step. It's also what you did to get behind me in that last sparring match," chirped Yoruichi giving her pupil a grin at the sight of her shocked face.

"Tatsuki because of your martial arts skills, you have very high natural skills in both Hohō and Hakuda. I'd peg you at the level of a 3rd or 4th seat officer based off of those skills alone. That's also why I gave you a Stealth Force uniform; those with mastery of these skills get placed there."

The young Shinigami's eyes widened as she registered what her sensei explained. She thought she was struggling and being totally dominated. That she had made the wrong choice in showing up here and trying to obtain soul reaper powers. But that wasn't the case at all. She believed wholeheartedly she could become stronger and fight along side Ichigo and the others.

"However," continued Yoruichi with a more serious tone. "You still need to awaken your

Zanpakutō's true form and master Zanjutsu to battle with enemies of higher spiritual pressure like myself."

Tatsuki glanced down and pulled out her sword which she kept sheathed horizontally behind her on her lower back. She wondered why her master told her not to use it during their training session and just assume it was because she didn't even carry a Zanpakutō.

Tatsuki thought hers was vastly different from that monstrosity of a blade Ichigo was wielding. It was a wakizashi, or a side inserted sword, and its hilt was red, but instead of a diamond pattern like most Zanpakutōs, hers has white dots scattered across it with a black guard.

"What gives," Tatsuki shot back slowly regaining her confidence. "You don't even have a Zanpakutō. Plus, all I know is hand to hand fighting. Why do I have to use this thing?"

"That's because I've completely mastered Hohō and Hakuda," deflected Yoruichi who flash stepped behind Tatsuki scaring her yet again. "You will definitely need to use your sword if you want to become stronger."

After an eye roll and a couple of huffs, Tatsuki conceded and asked, "How exactly do I get this thing to its true form?"

"Well, there's a couple of different ways," her sensei proclaimed. "One way is by battle and shear force, a Zanpakuto's spirit can sometimes manifest itself in the heat of battle and the wielder can hear its name and abilities. The latter, and more common way is Jinzen, or sword meditation, which you put your sword over your lap and have a conversation with your Zanpakutō."

"What…you mean I'm supposed to talk to this thing? How the heck am I supposed to talk to something that isn't living?! That's impossible!" shouted Tatsuki who couldn't believe what this woman was explaining to her.

Then again, all the things she was doing since yesterday didn't seem real either. Hell, this could all be one giant crazy dream for all she knew. Soul Reapers. Zanpakutōs. Soul Society. Hollows. It was all overwhelming.

Realizing her trainee was getting stressed, Yoruichi put her hand on Tatsuki's shoulder. "Hey, I know this is sudden and a lot to take in. But, you're going to have to be strong. You can do this."

Tatsuki looked back in awe and appreciation of her master's words. Strength was flowing into her just by her presence. "So…I just sit and mediate with my Zanpakutō on my lap?"

Her sensei nodded back and Tatsuki proceed to place the blade on her lap and closed her eyes.

 **Same time and place: 200 meters away**

Isshin looked back at the two women in the distance and smiled. _'Ahh, so Tatsuki is finally learning Jinzen. Seems like Karin is just like her brother though, too impatient for any of that. Rather just keep getting her ass kicked until her Zanpakuto speaks to her in battle.'_

He looked back at his two children battling with his son continuing to punish his daughter time and time again. How different would things be if they had grown up in the Seireitei and enlisted in the Gotei 13? Ichigo had enough strength to be a full fledged captain at this point and Yuzu and Karin could be at the academy learning instead of all of this.

Maybe after they handle things with Aizen…they could return as a family…maybe this is where they belong instead of the world of the living…Isshin's thoughts were interrupted by his daughter crashing against the mountain side beside him.

"Too slow, Karin," Ichigo bellowed from a distance. "You need to sharpen your reaction time."

"Idiot," the young raven haired Shinigami in-training replied while getting back to her feet. "I'm doing my best. You're too strong."

"You think your enemy will go easy on you if you are inferior to them? You can forget about that. You have so much more strength than you realize. Now, come at me, again!"

Karin dashed towards her brother with a head full of steam and swung her katana with full force. Ichigo calmly put up his sword to block her attack, and the collision of the two created a large spiritual release of energy that blew away near by trees and indented the ground around them.

Isshin, still sitting a little ways away from them, gazed at the area rather impressed with the rise of spiritual pressure in his daughter. Karin then continued to launch an assault of strikes against her trainer. Unfortunately, Ichigo countered off all of her attacks with little to no effort.

As she stood there staring her opponent down, she tried to catch her breath clearly fatigued by her last offensive onslaught to no avail. _"Why won't you use me?" a soft voice called out to her._ Karin froze in place wondering who just spoke to her. She looked around but all she saw was Ichigo still standing in place and her dad sitting off to the side.

"Who is there? What do you want?" demanded Karin masking her fear with anger.

 _"I want what you want, Karin," the soft spoken voice whispered back to her. "I want us to become stronger and teach that spiky haired boy a lesson most divine. Now can you hear me?"_

The young raven haired girl darted her eyes towards her Zanpakutō. She had remembered the conversation she had with her father yesterday about the awakening of her soul reaper powers, and once more today by Kisuke Urahara about learning the true identity of her Zanpakutō. _'Could it be you? Are you reaching out to me,"_ the girl wondered to herself.

"Can..can you tell me your name?" whispered Karin looking down at the sword. It was a like any typical katana, however its guard was circular with wavy lines that swirled all around it. The hilt was pure with light blue diamonds lined down the center of it.

' _Ahh, how wonderful,"_ replied the angelica like voice. It was so soothing, and eerily familiar to Karin, however she couldn't quite tell where or if she's heard it before now. _'Now that you can hear me, my name is ….'_

"Ricochet, Tenrai Takoken," exclaimed Karin which caused an immense gust of wind to explode around her and released all around the area. As the smoke cloud settled around the young Shinigami, Ichigo stared in awe at the new weapon his sister was wielding.

It was rather unique to say the least, Ichigo thought to himself. As she gripped the white hilt, he saw two blades were on both sides of the weapon. The blades themselves were wide and curved similar to a Chinese Dao blade but greatly angled. The length of the entire weapon was around two foot which was half the size of the girl's body.

"Hmm, that's a pretty interesting name for your Zanpakutō," Ichigo interjected slowly walking towards the girl. "The Divine Gliding Blade, huh? Let's see what that can do!"

He flashed stepped towards the girl and delivered a vicious strike. The ground shook yet again at the concussive force between the two blades. The two ascended slowly, neither one holding an advantage.

Coming together once again in a violent clash, Ichigo looked down in shock. The girl was holding the curved sword with two hands now. _"What?! One of the blades is gone? But where?'_

Shifting his eyes to the left, the missing sword lunged towards him in a swirling motion. Ichigo quickly evaded by tilting his hand back as he watched the spinning blade slash the tip of his hair and reconnect back to the other side of Karin's hilt.

Realizing that her brother was off balanced, Karin pushed back against his blade, freeing herself from the clash and fiercely swung with the other end of her weapon.

"I've got you now, Ichigo," shouted Karin thinking she was going to claim victory.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" countered Ichigo as a blue crescent shaped light emitted from the giant blade and disarmed the young Shinigami. He then delivered a kick to send the girl flying towards the ground. _'That was a close one, she nearly got me.'_

As he descending slowly, he hissed, "You have some kind of nerve slicing up my hair! If I wanted a haircut, I would have asked for one!"

Karin sluggishly rose and limped towards her Zanpakutō. "Oh, shut up Ichigo. You could have killed me with that freaking move of yours!"

"After that surprise disconnecting blade of yours, you would have deserved it," replied Ichigo focusing on his hair now. "In any case, I must say that's a pretty awesome sword. How'd you do that?"

"I…I don't really know. It was just off of instinct. I just..," she said as her voice trailed off gazing back at her Zanpakutō.

"You're an idiot," Isshin interjected head butting his son, sending him tumbling away. "Sheesh, she's just like you, picking things up in the heat of battle. How can you not sense that? That boy can be dense at times."

Isshin focused his attention back on his daughter. Her instincts exceeding his expectations, she battled Ichigo for a split second as somewhat of an equal, and she was able to channel her Zanpakutō's true form and ability rather quickly.

"You're a natural like your dear old dad," beamed Isshin coming to embrace his daughter. However, he was met by a forceful kick to the face instead.

"For once, can you act your age," nagged Karin watching her dad tend to his swollen nose. "What did you mean earlier?"

"I suppose you heard a voice call out to you when you were sparring with Ichigo? Well, that was your Zanpakutō speaking to you. You were able to release your sword to its Shikai state thus using its abilities."

"Oh, so I can do that every time against an enemy?"

"Well, you'll need to learn its attack names as well if you want to master it, but yes. Over time you should be able to hone your skills. I'd gauge you at a 4th or 5th seat officer as of now, but that's no good. We'll have to work on your hand to hand combat to get better," explained Isshin while getting back on his feet.

"I'd say its pretty good considering my foot just connected with your face," quipped Karin nonchalantly.

"Oh, let's see if you can do it again," replied her father with a more serious demeanor and stance to him.

She lunged towards her dad with a roundhouse kick towards his face. This time however, the man disappeared from her field of vision. _'H-he vanished…no way,'_ Karin thought to herself still in mid-air. Isshin suddenly reappeared behind the girl and fashioned his finger and thumb together towards his chin and flicked them.

This incredible force from the attack sent Karin soaring into a boulder a significant distance away. Isshin looked over to Rukia and Kisuke standing over giant hole in the ground before flash stepping away to continue training with his daughter. _'C'mon Yuzu, you can do it.'_

 **Shattered Shaft, Yuzu's inner world**

Kisuke and Rukia gazed down into the pit to see if the young girl had woken up yet. It's been fifty-two hours since the chain of fate was severed from the soul of Yuzu Kurosaki. She seemed frightened at the beginning, but once she gained her spiritual powers, she was able to gain a bit of self-confidence.

"Kisuke, how long is this supposed to take?" Rukia asked impatiently. She was concerned why the girl had to be restrained to such measures like using Kin, a powerful Kidō.

"It's a seventy-two hour process," replied Kisuke coolly. "She's already in her inner world with her Zanpakutō so it's very possible she could be done sooner than that."

"Do you believe this will beat Aizen…like training these three to become Soul Reapers. Will it be enough?" inquired Rukia gazing at the father and daughter sparring at high speeds and over at Tatsuki still in a deep trance.

"It definitely will help. But I'm sure we aren't the only ones training to get stronger and upping our numbers. Something big is happening and we've got to be prepared for it. It feels like it did 100 years ago on that fateful night," he responded honestly. "But for now, we have to focus on strengthening these young warriors. We'll be ready."

Yuzu looked around confused as she wondered where she was at. She thought she was in the bottom of some hole slowly dying while attempting to gain Shinigami powers. However, she discovered she didn't have the chain of fate on her chest.

Moreover, this place wasn't a barren, rocky wasteland that Mr. Urahara called his training area either. It was very foggy to the point she could barely see in front of her. She looked up to see the moon was out but it was neither waning nor waxing. What a gloomy place she thought while trying to find someone or something to make sense of where she had gone.

As she got through the clouds of vapor, she noticed she was standing in a graveyard. Rows of tombstones stood erect in silence to the left and right, in front and behind, like a sea of the dead. Some were crumbled with the weathering of centuries; some were smooth marble with new black writing and laid with floral tributes. _'What..but why am I in a place like this?!'_

Frightened, she began sprinting as fast as she could while closing her eyes. She wondered why all of this was happening to her. Why did she agree to this? As she kept running, she tripped and fell on the ground. She smelled a large aroma of varies scents, some as warm as ripened fruit, and others had the fresh linen. Opening her eyes, she discovered she was in a garden.

Fields of daisies, lilies, and tulips were scattered among as all were fully bloomed. Colors dazzled around the field, as the atmosphere breathed new life all around her. She could feel warm and happiness as she looked up and saw the sun rising. Getting up, she began walking through the garden, blissfully content on staying here forever.

However, as she kept walking, she noticed fog consumed the air around her. Mould covered the engravings dedicated to the dead, trees leaning towards the stones, branches reaching out to each other. Spiked, black fences surrounded the graveyard almost like it was a prison. The smell of old stone filled the dry air and the moon was back out again.

Panicking, she started crying, desperate for help. She was confused why she felt isolated and it felt like a hopeless situation.

"Why do you continue to sob, Yuzu?" an eerie voice piped up from out of the darkness.

"Who said that?" Yuzu whimpered while she wiped away tears from her eyes. She turned around and saw a girl maybe about a foot tall that her sitting on a tombstone. She had long white hair than flowed down to her knees and attired in all black. A black cloak with black boots and black gloves.

As Yuzu got nearer, she saw the girl have eyes like pure snow. She couldn't decide if the cloaked girl was friend or foe as she watched the white eyed girl tap her feet against the grave in a rhythmic pattern.

"Why do you continue to sob, Yuzu?" the girl asked in that same ghostly tone.

"I…I don't understand," Yuzu responded. "Who are you? Why are we here?"

"Oh, so you still don't know, huh," the mysterious girl concluded as she stopped her feet and cocked her head perplexed Yuzu didn't realize her surroundings. "Well, does this place look more familiar?"

The graves vanished, the fog dissolved, and the rush of intoxicating aromas filled the air. The light beamed down from above and brought warmth and comfort to Yuzu. She scanned to see flowers all around her again as she felt elated and safe once again.

A rhythmic beat disrupted Yuzu's focus as she looked over and saw that mysterious boot wearing girl perched on a fountain in the center of the garden. She realized it was this girl. She was the culprit, the reason she was feeling these roller coaster of emotions. One minute feel lost and despair and the other feel safe and hopeful.

"Why..why are you doing this?" Yuzu addressed the cloaked girl on the fountain.

"I'm not doing this," the girl replied while stopping her feet again. "You are Yuzu, look around you."

The flowers suddenly withered away and into the ground as tombstones burst through in their place. A black fence enclosed the area as fog rolled in to fill the air. The sky blackened as the moon stood alone in the dreary place.

"For every happy day, there's a sad one," the girl stated while hopping off the grave and walking towards Yuzu who was frozen in place. "When there is light, there is also darkness. For when there's life, there's death. Everything has an opposite. There's fairness to it all and you control the balance in this world. You control it with your emotions, Yuzu."

"Me? B-but how? I didn't do anything," insisted Yuzu. "Who are you? How do you know all of this?"

"Because I'm your guardian in life and demon in death, Yuzu. I am your protection and your scale in determining who you battle and who you spare. It's me, Makōhei," proclaimed the shrouded figure.

"Who I battle," questioned Yuzu before suddenly realizing the identity of this white haired girl. "I understand now….Makōhei. You're my Zanpakutō."

The cloaked girl smiled and motioned Yuzu to follow her along the sea of graves. The two wandered along until the girl abruptly stopped at a tombstone. It was significantly larger than the rest and looked rather new with smooth marble. Etched in stone, it spelled out "Demon of Fairness".

As Yuzu got closer to the grave, she noticed a katana placed on a holder in front of the tomb. Its blade was as white as a blizzard, but its hilt was a black as the night. Upon further inspection, she heard a voice call out to her yet again.

"Take me, Yuzu," urged Makōhei pointing to the weapon. "If you want to fight, if you want order, and if you want to become a Shinigami, then wield me, Yuzu!"

A burst of light shot out of the Shattered Shaft, as Kisuke and Rukia followed the small explosion with the eyes. As it landed, a cloud of smoke settled around to show a short, light blonde haired girl with Shinigami robes holding a Zanpakutō.

"I-is that Yuzu," asked Rukia unsure whether to approach the Soul Reaper or not. "Her Zanpakutō, its blade is as white as Sode no Shirayuki's!"

Kisuke held his fan to hide his face and let out a sly grin. "It appears Yuzu became a Soul Reaper after all. Let me go see if she's awakened her Zanpakutō. You can go second," jumping away to approach the new Shinigami.

"Congratulations on getting your Soul Reaper powers, Yuzu," Kisuke said with a raspy tone. "Now, the next step is t-"

"Hey, that wasn't very fair not to tell me, I'd be stuck in a whole Mister Urahara," interrupted Yuzu. "For that, I think you should be taught a lesson. Echo, Makōhei!"

Kisuke looked on as the girl's sword transformed before his eyes. The rise in her spiritual pressure caused debris to swirl around her. As it settled, he saw a white Reiatsu glowing around the Shinigami, but then he gasped at what the young girl was wielding.

It was an enormous scythe, perhaps as large as the wielder herself. It was white down one side, but black down the other. As Kisuke marveled at the weapon, the girl slowly began to walk towards him. She raised up the scythe to her side, and before she swung, the bucket hat man screamed out, "Scream, Benihime!"

A large, vertical crimson shield erected from the man's blade getting in between the attacker and himself. Surprisingly, as the scythe was slashing through the shield on the left, the same incision was happening on the right without the blade being there. _"She's going to break it with one swing! Impossible."_

He quickly flashed stepped back as he watched the shield shatter into pieces on the ground. Preparing for the next attack, he readied his sword. However, the girl was passed out from exhaustion on the ground leaning on her scythe.

"Wow, what is the deal with all of the Kurosaki family having extreme potential? I'm sure glad Yuzu came along."

 **A Little Off into the Distance**

The two women were battling amongst the dead trees. They jumped from branch to branch with the short spiky haired girl giving chase to a golden eyed woman. The woman abruptly stopped and spun around with a kick. The girl was caught off guard and couldn't counter or evade. The force of the kick to her side sent the girl tumbling down on the ground.

"You have to react quicker, Tatsuki," instructed Yoruichi who jumped down from the trees. "What's changed since you were in Jinzen anyways?"

The girl rose to her feet grasping her side and slowly walked to her Zanpakutō. She picked it up from its stabbed position in the rock and turned back to her master.

"Honestly, I wouldn't think it would be a fair fight if I used her," Tatsuki quipped back with a coy smile.

"Oh, so it's a her, now is it." Yoruichi shot back with her own smile. "I assume you've gotten well acquainted with her. Why don't you introduce me?"

"Well, if you insist," replied Tatsuki as she threw her sword in the air. "Infect the weak, Kinokohisu."

The sword in the air glowed brightly and split into two. As the blades descended, Tatsuki held out her hands catching them both. They were small Sais with a red hilt with dots. Her master looked on rather impressed with the girl's glowing red Reiatsu and new Shikai form.

"Hmmm, Mushroom Hysteria," analyzed Yoruichi while studying the released Zanpakutō. "I don't think I want to find out what that does exactly."

"Well it wouldn't be a proper introduction unless you did," responded Tatsuki as she flash stepped towards her.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry the chapter took so long! I was really debating whether to show all three of their inner worlds or not and how I'd introduce their abilities. Also, how much of their abilities would I show! I went with all of their releases and names! (Karin- Tenrai Takoken- Divine Gliding Blade, Yuzu- Makōhei- Demon of Fairness, and Tatsuki- Kinokohisu- Mushroom Hysteria). These aren't literal translations as I combined the names to make them either into one or two words, but if you had trouble with pronunciation, stick it into Google translate Japanese and you'll get the idea:)**

 **PS: What did you make of Karin and Yuzu's Shikai abilities? And what do you think Tatsuki's will be? Speculate and Give your opinions in the comments! Thanks for reading and I really hoped you enjoyed it!**


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